Boomkat crawls further up its own ass

"'Atol Scrap' is still one of the most perfect specimins of an era we'd rather forget. Imagine vintage Autechre clatterbeats assembled with a bassy dub techno mentality and daubed with faint, hazed ambient textures = seriously next level, era-defining biz. It's fair to say that for the most part, IDM hasn't aged well. When it worked, its sounds were absorbed into more forgiving structures (hello trap and grime) and when it didn't, the mess of overly masculine sound design and underwhelming cycling non-melodies irritated more than they impressed, inching closer to history's trashcan with each passing year. "

Like most genres predicated on sounding futuristic classic IDM definitely shows its age. But there's no reason we need to forget it and it doesn't have anything to do with masculinity. And for sure Trap & Grime are not aging any better.

I mean... they're not wrong...

Context?

EDIT: Haven't heard Atol Scrap, was referring to the rest

  On 5/14/2021 at 1:37 AM, sweepstakes said:

I mean... they're not wrong...

Context?

EDIT: Haven't heard Auto Scrap, was referring to the rest

Atol Scrap is a classic. Definitely recommended. Arovane has been doing some great music lately too.

i don't like it either but man that is way to harsh

  On 5/14/2021 at 1:47 AM, Ivan Ooze said:

i don't like it either but man that is way to harsh

i could write harsher things about ambient music, various industrial/techno offshoots, trap, footwork, newschool breaks, hippie festival electronics etc etc.. 

i'm guessing this person who wrote that took it upon him/her/themself to poke some people w/a stick because "Ah ha! opportunity to express my opinion"

it's weak and i fart in its general direction. 

for the most part it's pretty "masculine" sounding, as in not sensual at all. frankly, I always thought that too. apart from the bastions who survived the test of time, a great deal of "IDM" is nerds trying to be more intricate, more extreme, more mind-bending, more outside the curve, more. that may not age well, but those who took musicality into account are still revered, because that's what it's all about anyway

that was a pretty ridiculous review, though. probably someone who either never got into IDM and feels the need to attack it because it's above their head, or too young to relate. either way, pretentious and unnecessarily antagonistic. ironically, a very macho stance, if you ask me

i think it's lazy. and silly and er.. wrong..  relies on some stereotype of what's expected or an imagined mass consensus of what something is. 

there's plenty of what is referred to as IDM that brings tears to peoples eyes.. men and women. .. pets even.  

There are loads of women making electronic music these days with strong, agressive beats. Why does this have to be yet another gender identity thing?

“overly masculine sound”

lol

how can sound be ‘overly’ masculine?!

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:22 AM, xox said:

“overly masculine sound”

lol

how can sound be ‘overly’ masculine?!

The idea that there's such a thing as masculine sound design and, by implication, feminine sound design seems sexist to me and harmful and limiting to musicians of all genders.

I miss boomkat_ebooks, which was a twitter account that simply quoted nuggets from their puffy write-ups.

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:26 AM, kuniklo said:

The idea that there's such a thing as masculine sound design and, by implication, feminine sound design seems sexist to me and harmful and limiting to musicians of all genders.

 

it's super dumb especially in our current world. i had to go and make a tweet because ugh.. so dumb. and for arovane.. "we gonna shit in your mouth but it'll be 50% shit and 50% peanut butter and chocolate

man is def trolling guys

we got played

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:04 AM, ignatius said:

i could write harsher things about ambient music, various industrial/techno offshoots, trap, footwork, newschool breaks, hippie festival electronics etc etc.. 

i'm guessing this person who wrote that took it upon him/her/themself to poke some people w/a stick because "Ah ha! opportunity to express my opinion"

it's weak and i fart in its general direction. 

Absolutely totally agree that things like power electronics (hello Whitehouse, Sutcliffe Jugend) are often macho bullshit (as is, honestly a lot of music) and while one could call IDM a "boys club" in the sense of it being an area of music that is vastly dominated by men, I don't see how Arovane is an example of this. If sound design can indeed be described as "masculine" in some greater, stereotypical sense, I believe that would be far more fitting the likes of Excision, Datsik, and some of the more intense of the brostep producers. Yes, a lot of 2000s era IDM may not have aged well, but I really don't think Arovane is a good example. Uwe's music has often been unfavourably labeled an Autechre ripoff and while the influence of Sean and Rob is clear, he's also fairly original (still need to hear more Arovane but I think I stand by this). I think Richard Devine might be closer to what the reviewer's getting at.

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:22 AM, xox said:

“overly masculine sound”

lol

how can sound be ‘overly’ masculine?!

most idm

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:37 AM, splesh said:

Absolutely totally agree that things like power electronics (hello Whitehouse, Sutcliffe Jugend) are often macho bullshit (as is, honestly a lot of music) and while one could call IDM a "boys club" in the sense of it being an area of music that is vastly dominated by men, I don't see how Arovane is an example of this. If sound design can indeed be described as "masculine" in some greater, stereotypical sense, I believe that would be far more fitting the likes of Excision, Datsik, and some of the more intense of the brostep producers. Yes, a lot of 2000s era IDM may not have aged well, but I really don't think Arovane is a good example. Uwe's music has often been unfavourably labeled an Autechre ripoff and while the influence of Sean and Rob is clear, he's also fairly original (still need to hear more Arovane but I think I stand by this). I think Richard Devine might be closer to what the reviewer's getting at.

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if you can find the 2005 arovane set from portland.. only live show i think in USA forever? do download it. it's amazing. was so great to hear live in a small venue. was a super nice guy too. didn't chat much because language barrier but he seemed like a humble dude who likes to make sounds and ride his motorcycle on country roads. 

oh.. it's here:

https://archive.org/details/Arovane-LivePaApothekeAug2005

boomkat come off as such elitist dicks nowadays. 

they distribute some good music for sure but are quite loathsome. 

Even as much as "IDM" is a "boys club", it's not exactly a style brimming with stereotypical masculinity, you might even call it "wimpy" if you wanted to be pejorative. Trap and grime are very often masculine to a fault but not in their sound design so much as their lyrical content. Glitchiness - not especially masculine. Sub bass - I can see why someone would say that but they'd be way off base.

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:41 AM, ignatius said:

a humble dude who likes to make sounds and ride his motorcycle on country roads.

manowar confirmed

It seems like describing particular styles or techniques as masculine or feminine isn't useful and just serves to create boundaries. Why not use terms like noisy or busy or aggressive instead? One of the best developments of recent years or is that women are much more involved in all styles of electronic music and making some great records, some of them very abrasive and aggressive.

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:44 AM, kuniklo said:

It seems like describing particular styles or techniques as masculine or feminine isn't useful and just serves to create boundaries. Why not use terms like noisy or busy or aggressive instead? One of the best developments of recent years or is that women are much more involved in all styles of electronic music and making some great records, some of them very abrasive and aggressive.

Not to mention a lot of great trans artists. Do we need to put people in buckets?

fuck tits and balls, i want my music to sound like asshole

Ok… That review is just a mess of overly moronic statements! 

Next!!!

Sorry I should have posted this in general discussion not new releases.

  On 5/14/2021 at 2:51 AM, Ivan Ooze said:

fuck tits and balls, i want my music to sound like asshole

everyone eats it apparently so might as well go for that market. 

btw.. already got some replies and direct messages, after my tweet, from people who don't ever go to boomkat because all their copy is crap.  

lols. so i guess boomkat being trollish dicks isn't a new thing. i confess to not going there in a long long time when looking for music. bandcamp, bleep or direct from the label is where i purchase the tunes.